ALT 


E  SALT  OF  TH  E  EART 

-  - 


H 


RS.S.S.BAKER 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

Rare  Book  Room 
GIFT  OF 

John  W*  Beckman 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


r 


SALT. 


"YE   ARE   THE   SALT   OF   THE 
EARTH." 


(BY  MRS.  S.  S.  <BAKE<R. 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

]SO  NASSAU  STREET,  NEW   YORK. 


COPYRIGHT,  1891. 
AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY. 


He  "  by  whom  the  worlds  were  made  and 
for  whose  pleasure  all  things  are  and  were 
created,"  has  spoken  of  true  spiritual  life  as 
salt,  and  even  of  his  own  faithful  followers 
as  "the  salt  of  the  earth."  We,  in  our  igno 
rance,  cannot  fathom  all  the  deep  analogies 
that  were  present  to  the  mind  of  our  Lord 
in  this  comparison,  but  it  must  be  profitable 
to  make  those  that  are  most  apparent  the 
subject  of  devout  and  careful  meditation. 


"Salt  is  Good" 7 

Salt  in  Social  Life 9 

The  Purifying  of  Salt 15 

Salt  at  Table 19 

"  Have  Salt  in  Yourselves  " -  24 

Use  Your  Salt! 27 

Salt  in  Conversation 33 

Salt  and  Corruption •  37 

Salt  and  Sacrifice 4<> 


6  CONTENTS. 

Salt  in  the  Home 44 

Inspectors  of  Salt 50 

Unauthorized  Inspectors 53 

Geographical  Distribution  of  Salt 57 

The  Salt  that  has  lost  its  Savor 59 

The  Perfect  Man 61 

The  Perfect  Home-.  .  62 


SALT. 


"SALT  IS  GOOD." 

"  SALT  is  good !"  This  is  the  universal 
testimony,  but  it  is  spoken  of  the  true  salt 
only. 

To  whom  do  men  go  when  they  are  in 
distress  ?  Where  do  the  afflicted,  the  puzzled, 
.the  worried,  the  doubting,  the  penitent,  and 
the  dying  find  counsel  and  comfort  ?  World 
ly  livers,  scoffers,  and  boon  companions  may 
do  for  friends  in  sunny  days,  but  for  help 
men  turn  to  the  true  Christian  and  own  his 
priceless  worth.  Comforted,  helped,  cheered, 
advised,  and  encouraged,  the  late  sufferers 
exclaim  in  fulness  of  heart,  "  '  Salt  is  good  ;' 
the  true  Christian  is  the  best  friend!" 

How  great  then  is  the  responsibility  of 


8  SALT. 

the  so-called  Christians  who  bring  disgrace 
upon  religion !  Christians  have  their  Mas 
ter's  honor  in  their  keeping.  They  are  called 
by  his  name,  they  assume  to  be  of  his  family  ; 
let  them  be  careful  to  bear  the  family  like 
ness. 

You  have  no  right  to  be  mean  and  selfish 
and  disobliging ;  you  have  no  right  to  be 
cold  and  time-serving  and  worldly  ;  you  have 
no  right  to  be  false  and  unreliable,  or  bitter 
and  unforgiving,  and  yet  call  yourself  a 
Christian.  This  is  not  the  family  likeness. 

Be  pure  and  true  and  cheerful  and  help 
ful.  Keep  close  to  the  Saviour  by  frequent, 
trustful  communion  with  him,  and  you  will 
imbibe  his  spirit  who  went  about  doing  good, 
who  washed  the  feet  of  his  own  disciples,  and 
had  a  word  of  comfort  for  the  dying  thief  in 
the  midst  of  his  own  cruel  pains  on  the  cross. 

Follow  your  Master,  and  the  world  will 
indeed  say  of  your  walk  and  conversation, 
"  This  is  what  we  need !  Salt  is  good !" 


SALT   IN  SOCIAL   LIFE.  9 

SALT  IN  SOCIAL  LIFE. 

ROCK  salt,  coarse  salt,  table  salt  of  the 
purest  and  whitest,  all  stored  year  after  year 
in  a  warehouse,  closed  and  locked — salt  it  is, 
who  can  doubt  it  ?  But  is  it  doing  its  lawful 
work? 

The  same  experiment  has  been  tried  as  to 
the  spiritual  life.  Men  have  sought  holiness 
shut  out  from  family  ties  and  cut  off  from 
the  sweet  and  kindly  influences  of  social  in 
tercourse. 

We  may  not  deny  that  there  have  been 
pure  souls  in  this  voluntary  retirement,  who 
have  blessed  the  world  through  their  prayers 
and  have  left  divine  thoughts,  written  down, 
to  be  a  help  to  all  Christians.  But  while  this 
is  true,  how  often  in  this  unnatural  life  the 
salt  has  lost  its  savor,  and  become  only  fit  to 
be  "  cast  out  and  trodden  under  foot  of  men." 

In  these  days  we  have  the  experiment 
repeated  in  another  form.  Earnest  Chris 
tians  will  willingly  cluster  together  in  a 
charmed  circle,  drawing  away  even  the  hem 


IO  SALT. 

of  their  garments  from  the  outside  world, 
lest  their  own  sanctity  should  be  tainted.  So 
a  certain  kind  of  religious  life  surely  is  fos 
tered.  Salt  it  may  be,  but  it  is  not  salting 
the  earth !  Salt  to  be  of  service  must  be 
sprinkled  over,  or  mingled  with,  or  made  to 
interpenetrate  the  substance  it  is  to  flavor  or 
preserve. 

It  may  be  very  comfortable  to  associate 
only  with  congenial  souls,  who  have  kindred 
hopes  and  aims  and  consolations,  even  the 
same  that  are  your  own  stay  and  joy.  Very 
comfortable  it  may  be ;  but  salt,  to  be  useful, 
requires  contact  with  the  substance  to  be 
salted. 

Most  Christians  own  that  the  drunkard 
and  the  outcast  should  be  sought  for  diligent 
ly  and  brought  into  the  Master's  house,  but 
few  feel  any  responsibility  towards  those  who 
are  nearer  to  their  own  character  and  their 
standing  in  life. 

To  be  a  missionary  to  the  heathen  has  a 
charm  to  the  enthusiastic  and  devoted  Chris 
tian,  and  we  honor  such  devotedness  and 


SALT   IN    SOCIAL   LIFE.  II 

such  work.  You  may  perhaps  have  a  mission 
nearer  home,  and  who  can  reckon  its  possible 
importance  ? 

You  can  at  least  meet  with  friendliness 
all  overtures  to  social  intercourse,  and  in  a 
loving  spirit  mingle  with  your  fellows  in 
kindly  communion,  giving  them  the  pleasure 
that  always  flows  from  a  frank  and  cordial 
responsiveness.  In  this  way  you  will  draw 
near  to  many  human  hearts,  and  when  the 
timely  moment  comes  you  may  sow  the 
good  seed  with  the  taste  and  propriety  requi 
site  in  order  that  it  may  spring  and  take  root 
and  bear  fruit. 

When  and  where  the  true  Christian  may 
safely  mingle  with  the  children  of  this  world, 
must  be  left  to  the  individual  conscience  to 
decide.  Our  Lord  did  not  shrink  from  being 
found  in  any  social  gathering,  or  even  from 
taking  a  place  at  the  table  with  publicans  and 
sinners.  Perhaps  in  proportion  to  your  real 
likeness  to  him  you  may  safely  do  the  same. 

Where  love  leads  you,  where  you  go  in 
an  utter  indifference  to  the  pomp  and  pride 


12  SALT. 

of  life,  with  the  pure  unselfishness  and  un 
consciousness  that  desires  not  the  highest 
place,  not  the  due  meed  of  attention,  nor  the 
favorable  opportunity  to  shine,  you  may 
bravely  venture.  It  may  be  that  the  very 
presence  of  one  unsullied  by  the  world  may 
purify  the  air  from  the  mists  of  folly  or  the 
cutting  blasts  of  a  scornful  pride. 

Not  that  we  would  encourage  any  to  fre 
quent  places  of  amusement  which  their  con 
sciences  condemn,  or  which  they  find  be 
numbing  to  their  own  spiritual  life.  We  are 
speaking  of  such  intercourse  as  brings  hu 
man  beings  together  with  an  opportunity  for 
the  real  and  purely  natural  talk  by  which 
they  may  learn  to  know  one  another. 

The  surest  and  safest  way  for  Christians 
socially  to  "  salt  the  earth  "  is  by  a  large  and 
liberal  and  unostentatious  hospitality.  For 
those  who  have  ample  means  and  spacious 
homes,  this  is  an  easy  matter.  The  host  and 
hostess  can  give  the  tone  to  conversation  in 
their  own  drawing-room  and  at  their  own 
table,  felt  at  first,  perhaps,  negatively,  but  in 


SALT   IN   SOCIAL   LIFE.  13 

time  having  a  positive  influence,  sure  and 
strong.  Nor  is  this  means  of  usefulness  con 
fined  to  the  rich.  There  are  few  persons  who 
have  comfortable  homes  who  cannot  receive 
a  little  circle  of  friends  now  and  then  for  an 
evening  or  an  occasional  invited  or  unin 
vited  guest  at  their  own  table. 

Somehow  the  giving  of  a  friend  better 
food  than  he  would  probably.have  in  his  own 
home  has  come  to  be  considered  a  necessary 
part  of  hospitality.  This  notion  has  a  natu 
ral  and  kindly  origin,  but  it  has  done  much 
to  check  free  social  intercourse,  and  to 
prompt  to  an  effort  to  make  a  false  impres 
sion  on  the  guest  as  to  the  resources  of  the 
host  and  hostess  and  their  ordinary  way  of 
living.  It  has  led,  too,  to  that  social  emula 
tion  which  ends  in  ostentation  and  extrava 
gance.  The  hostess  often  grows  chary  of 
her  invitations  because  of  the  trouble  they 
involve.  Because  she  cannot  receive  her 
friends  without  a  certain  lavish  ness  and 
empty  show,  she  cuts  herself  off  from  a 
means  of  wide  and  salutary  influence. 


14  SALT. 

Let  Christians  exercise  a  loving  hospital 
ity  towards  the  chosen  or  the  chance  guest 
or  the  gathered  circle,  themselves  consistent 
to  their  own  principles,  and  acting  them  out 
in  word  and  deed  under  their  own  roof ;  and 
many  a  stranger,  many  a  lonely  straggler, 
many  a  worldling,  will  have  cause  to  bless 
the  firesides  where  in  an  atmosphere  of  warm 
friendliness  they  were  allowed  to  see  and 
share  a  true  Christian  family  life. 

Surely  the  salt  of  the  earth  may  mingle 
with  persons  not  certainly  and  thoroughly 
Christian  in  efforts  for  the  relief  of  the  poor, 
for  temperance,  and  for  morality.  If  you  are 
to  save  the  crew  of  a  sinking  ship,  you  must 
not  be  too  particular  who  it  is  that  helps 
you  to  send  out  the  life-boat.  A  common  ob 
ject,  a  common  effort,  draws  men  together ; 
and  if  you  be  of  the  salt  of  the  earth,  your 
influence  will  be  felt,  and  the  whole  under 
taking  will  be  the  more  bravely  and  wisely 
carried  on  for  your  presence. 

We  have  not  been  agitating  the  question 
how  far  mere  pleasure-seekers  may  go  in 


SALT    IN   SOCIAL   LIFE.  15 

search  of  amusement.  To  them  we  would 
only  say  in  the  words  of  Holy  Writ,  "  If  any 
man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father 
is  not  in  him."  "  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon."  "  Choose  you  this  day  whom  ye 
will  serve."  It  is  of  the  salt  of  the  earth  we 
are  speaking,  not  of  them  who  are  "  of  the 
earth,  earthy." 

Be  not  timid,  suspicious,  self-conscious 
Christians  !  Go,  loving  and  large-hearted,  to 
mingle  with  your  fellow-men  in  society,  in 
the  office,  in  the  workshop,  in  the  homes  of 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  and  your  salt  will  not 
lose  its  savor,  but  it  will  be  yours  to  share  in 
the  blessed  work  of  salting  the  earth  ! 

THE  PURIFYING-  OF  SALT. 

"  SALT  is  never  found  perfectly  pure." 
Take  courage  from  these  simple  words ! 
What  Christian  can  fail  to  be  sometimes  dis 
heartened  in  the  contest  with  his  inherent 
faults  of  character,  that  seem  to  be  inter 
woven  with  his  very  life ;  his  besetting  sins, 


1 6  SALT. 

that  though  once  cast  out  and  triumphed 
over,  still  come  back  with  new  strength  to 
claim  the  mastery. 

Be  patient !  He  who  "  sits  as  the  refiner 
and  purifier  of  silver  "  will  not  disdain  to 
enter  on  the  same  work  with  the  salt. 

"Salt  is  separated  from  the  water  with 
which  it  is  found  by  artificial  heat,  by  ex 
posure  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  by 
freezing."  * 

You  wish  to  be  made  pure  ;  are  you  will 
ing  to  submit  to  the  process  that  God  will 
ordain  for  your  purification  ?  Are  you  ready 
to  be  "  salted  with  fire,"  tried  in  the  furnace 
of  affliction  ?  Bereavement,  the  loss  of  the 
dearest  you  own,  may  be  necessary  for  you. 
Days  and  nights  and  even  years  of  pain 
may  be  your  portion.  Troubles,  worries, 
disappointments,  humiliations  may  be  in 
store  for  you.  Are  you  ready  to  take  each 
day's  proportion  of  trial  as  it  comes,  to  take 
it  humbly,  meekly,  and  if  possible  joyfully, 
and  let  it  do  for  you  its  work  of  purification  ? 
*  Prof.  Peckham  on  Salt. 


THE   PURIFYING   OF   SALT.  1 7 

Human  nature  shrinks  from  the  prospect 
of  being  purified  by  fire,  but  in  the  midst  of 
the  flames  there  will  be  seen  One  walking 
beside  you  in  the  likeness  of  the  Son  of  God. 
With  such  companionship  as  the  Man  of 
Sorrows,  .you  will  have  sympathy  and  sup- 
pqrt  in  all  that  is  before  you,  and  his  loving 
acknowledgment  that  you  are  truly  of  his 
own. 

Perhaps  your  merciful  Master  may  be 
pleased  to  purify  you  by  sunshine.  He  may 
.see  that  you  need  the  joys  of  life  to  perfect 
your  character.  He  may  even  fill  your  cup 
with  earthly  blessings  and  human  love.  In 
such  sunshine  forget  not  the  Giver.  Like  a 
grateful  child  lift  your  heart  to  your  Heav 
enly  Father.  Thank  him  for  his  good  gifts, 
and  share  with  a  free  hand  whatever  bless 
ings  of  the  earthly  or  the  spiritual  life  you 
have  received  from  your  Heavenly  Bene 
factor. 

Do  not  be  terrified  if  the  means  of  your 
purification  should  be  like  benumbing  cold, 
and  seem  to  threaten  to  turn  even  your  own 


1 8  SALT. 

heart  to  ice.  You  may  be  while  in  the  civil 
ized  world  like  the  lone  missionary  in  the 
midst  of  the  wild  heathen,  with  only  God  for 
his  friend.  You  may  be  surrounded  by  near 
relatives  who  know  not  God  and  despise  his 
children.  You  may  be  among  those  who 
scorn  your  church  organization,  and  will  not 
own  any  as  true  Christians  who  are  without 
their  own  narrow  fold.  Do  not  fear !  You 
will  come  out  from  this  trial  purer  and  hap 
pier  if  through  it  you  are  drawn  nearer  to 
the  Saviour,  looking  to  him  only  for  your 
joy  and  consolation.  This  world's  desola 
tion  and  coldness  will  have  no  chill  for  you, 
living  in  the  full  rays  of  the  Sun  of  Right 
eousness. 

Fear  not  any  means  that  may  be  used  for 
your  purification  !  You  will  have  just  what 
you  need,  no  more,  no  less !  Your  soul  has 
been  trusted  to  your  Master's  hands,  let  him 
do  with  it  what  seemeth  him  good.  Say 
with  the  brave  king  of  old,  "  Let  me  suffer, 
if  I  must,  but  let  me  not  fall  into  sin." 


SALT   AT   TABLE.  19 

SALT  AT  TABLE. 

ALL  plans  for  education,  all  efforts  for  the 
poor,  all  social  reforms,  all  struggles  after 
sanctity  that  tend  to  destroy  or  set  aside  the 
influence  of  family  life,  must  fail. 

The  interchange  of  affection  in  the  fam 
ily  is  one  of  the  great  sources  of  the  beauti 
fying  and  purifying  of  the  human  heart. 
Were  there  no  little  children  about  us,  with 
their  tender  caresses,  their  innocent  charm, 
and  their  contagious  merriment,  what  a  light 
would  go  out  from  the  household !  Were 
there  no  old  people  to  prompt  to  respect  and 
kindly  consideration,  and  to  give  us  the  wis 
dom  from  their  long  experience,  what  a 
means  of  education  would  be  taken  from  us ! 
Alas !  if  we  lacked  the  bond  of  brotherhood, 
the  companionship  of  our  life-long  comrades, 
endeared  to  us  by  the  ties  of  blood,  the  inter 
change  of  mutual  offices  of  love,  and  the 
common  memories  of  a  common  home !  Had^ 
not  the  father  his  unselfish  motive  for  <^s- 
tion,  the  winning  of  daily  food  and  the  com- 


20  SALT. 

forts  of  home  for  his  dear  ones,  how  dreary 
to  many  a  man  would  be  the  struggle  of  life  ! 
Were  there  no  mother's  love  to  embrace,  like 
the  love  of  God,  the  worthy,  and  the  un 
worthy,  what  a  joy,  what  a  refuge,  what  a 
consolation  would  be  taken  from  mankind  ! 
God  has  "set  us  in  families;"  his  name  be 
praised  for  the  blessed  institution  ! 

The  hearthstone  has  become  the  symbol 
of  family  life  ;  but  is  it  not  rather  round  the 
family  table  that  this  life  is  nurtured,  spirit 
ually  as  well  as  physically  ?  Here  all,  old 
and  young,  meet  together  again  and  again 
during  the  day  for  free  and  natural  inter 
course  and  the  exchange  of  kindly  courte 
sies,  as  well  as  for  the  eating  of  daily  bread. 
How  much  would  many  a  busy  father  see  of 
his  children,  if  he  did  not  meet  them  at  the 
family  table  ?  Where  can  a  mother  be  sure 
to  take  in  in  one  glance  of  love  her  dearest 
treasures,  if  not  at  the  repast  which  her  fore 
thought  has  planned  and  perhaps  her  own 
hands  have  helped  to  prepare  ? 

The   system  which   adopts    for   children 


SALT   AT   TABLE.  21 

the  old  table  motto,  "  Let  your  food  keep 
you  quiet,"  makes  that  food  the  one  object 
and  interest  of  the  meal,  and  while  it  fosters 
greediness  and  daintiness,  robs  the  parents 
of  one  of  the  best  opportunities  of  knowing 
what  their  children  really  are  in  themselves 
and  in  their  relation  to  each  other. 

It  is  at  the  table  that  public  events  are 
often  discussed,  family  matters  talked  over, 
or  plans  for  pleasure  or  benevolence  agi 
tated.  Here  the  children  come  to  un 
derstand  the  drift  of  the  family  life,  their 
parents'  real  aims  and  interests,  and  so  are 
daily  and  insensibly  moulded  into  a  like 
ness,  in  opinions,  tastes,  and  principles,  to 
their  elders. 

The  family  meal  should  be  a  cheerful 
occasion,  where  even  a  burst  of  childish  mer 
riment  would  not  be  altogether  unfitting,  but 
it  should  be  seasoned  with  salt. 

The  physical  salt  at  table  is  not  a  taste 
that  is  obtruded  upon  us.  It  simply  makes 
our  food  more  agreeable,  or  acts  as  a  relish 
to  prompt  to  its  enjoyment.  It  is  much  the 


22  SALT. 

same  with  a  true  spiritual  life  in  this  gath 
ering  together  of  the  family. 

This  spiritual  life  appears  positively, 
however,  in  the  blessing  before  or  the 
thanksgiving  after  meals.  It  is  this  that  re 
minds  the  assembled  group  that  their  Master 
is  present  with  them  as  he  was  with  his  dis 
ciples  of  old.  Though  unseen,  he  must  not 
be  forgotten  or  disregarded. 

This  thought,  rightly  explained  and  real 
ized,  will  be  a  check  to  much  that  is  undesir 
able  that  may  easily  arise  in  the  free  conver 
sation  of  a  family  at  meals. 

The  negative  influence  of  the  true  salt  at 
the  table  will  prevent  all  immoderate  eating 
and  drinking,  all  that  pampering  of  the  appe 
tite  that  tends  to  make  bodily  indulgence  a 
matter  of  importance  and  a  growing  tempta 
tion.  It  will  season  the  conversation  with 
the  spirit  of  love  that  shuts  out  gossip  among 
the  elders  and  tale-bearing  among  the  child 
ren.  It  closes  the  mouth  to  harsh  words 
and  provoking  taunts.  It  remembers  that 
we  must  be  "  first  pure,"  allows  no  doubtful 


SALT   AT   TABLE.  23 

story  to  taint  the  lips  of  the  elders  and  sully 
the  minds  of  the  children.  It  makes  the 
whole  conversation  natural,  cheerful,  and 
agreeable. 

The  very  necessary  decorum  and  kindly 
courtesies  of  the  table  are  important  things 
in  education.  They  help  to  keep  down  the 
animal  in  children,  which  inclines  to  take 
the  upper  hand,  especially  with  boys,  at  the 
presence  of  food.  The  neglect  of  this  exalt 
ing  of  the  soul  over  the  body  at  table  may 
foster  tendencies  that  produce  the  future 
glutton  or  drunkard. 

If  need  be,  the  spiritual  salt  at  table  will 
sometimes  make  itself  sharply  felt  by  a  pun 
gent  rebuke  of  anything  low  or  irreverent  or 
unkind  that  may  creep  into  the  free  family 
talk.  The  conversation  may,  not  seldom, 
glide  into  holier  and  deeper  subjects,  where 
people  "  speak  good  thoughts  naturally,"  be 
cause  they  "  always  think  them."  Such  sub 
jects  will  be  treated  reverently,  not  in  the 
spirit  of  discussion,  but  simply  and  cheer 
fully  and  lovingly,  as  one  speaks  of  things 


24  SALT. 

that  are  tender  and  precious  and  true  and 
dear  to  the  heart. 

What  a  power  for  good  is  such  a  family 
table  where  it  is  never  forgotten  that  the 
Lord  himself  is  present,  even  at  the  daily 
breaking  of  bread ! 

"HAVE  SALT  IN  YOURSELVES,   AND 
HAVE  PEACE  ONE  WITH  ANOTHER." 

THERE  is  no  such  thing  as  entailed  spir 
itual  life.  You  cannot  inherit  this  treasure 
from  your  forefathers;  you  cannot  transmit 
it  to  your  descendants.  You  receive  it  for 
yourself  alone  as  you  do  birth  and  death. 
It  is  the  gift  of  God  to  the  single  soul,  which 
he  offers  to  each  and  all,  particularly  and 
specially,  through  the  Great  Redeemer. 

You  may  not  rely  on  Christian  education. 
You  may  not  think  because  you  belong  to 
a  certain  church  organization  and  have  par 
taken  of  the  sacrament  you  are  necessarily 
of  the  body  of  Christ.  You  may  not  flatter 
yourself  that  all  is  right  with  your  religious 


"HAVE   SALT   IN   YOURSELVES."  25 

life  because  you  are  sound  in  doctrine.  Even 
good  works  are  no  sure  reliance.  You  may 
be  an  admirable  machine  for  distributing 
alms,  but  only  a  dead  machine,  with  no  life 
in  you.  You  must  have  salt  in  yourself,  per 
sonally,  thoroughly,  abidingly. 

If  there  is  any  kind  of  a  quarrel  that  is 
particularly  disgraceful,  it  is  a  family  quar 
rel.  Who  would  expect  such  quarrels  in  the 
family  of  Christ,  who  claim  to  have  the 
same  Father,  the  same  law  for  their  rule  of 
life,  the  same  Elder  Brother  through  whom 
they  are  to  inherit  eternal  joy,  and  the  same 
home  in  heaven  where  they  are  all  to  be 
blessed  together?  Yet  what  bickering  and 
falling  out  there  are  by  the  way  ! 

It  was  not  without  special  reason  that  our 
Lord  coupled  together  the  two  admonitions, 
"  Have  salt  in  yourselves,"  and  "  Have  peace 
one  with  another !" 

It  is  the  lack  of  the  true  spirit  of  humil 
ity  and  love  in  the  individual  members  that 
makes  this  dissension  in  the  family  of  Christ. 

There  are  Christians  who  are  zealous  for 
4 


26  SALT. 

the  spreading  of  the  truth  and  for  all  good 
works,  and  yet  there  is  something  in  the 
way  that  limits  their  usefulness,  that  breaks 
down  their  best  schemes  and  makes  the 
wise  shrink  from  joining  in  their  underta 
kings.  What  stands  in  the  way  of  these 
honest,  would-be  active  workers  ?  It  is  even 
their  own  personality !  Perhaps  it  is  their 
fickleness  or  their  unreliability.  Perhaps  it 
is  their  eagerness  to  be  first  in  everything 
and  to  take  the  credit  in  all  the  good  done. 
Perhaps  they  are  visionary  and  unpractical 
and  untruthful  because  unwilling  to  see  and 
represent  things  as  they  really  are.  Perhaps 
they  lack  the  perseverance  and  patient  wait 
ing  that  do  not  expect  to  see  the  fruit  when 
the  seed  is  just  planted.  Perhaps  they  are 
obstinate  and  wilful  and  domineering. 

Let  those  Christians  who  would  be  active 
ly  useful  be  careful  lest  their  own  person 
ality  be  the  worst  stumbling-block  in  their 
way.  Let  them  see  that  they  so  have  salt 
in  themselves  that  no  indulged  faults  of 
character  may  limit  the  usefulness  they  so 


USE  YOUR  SALT!  27 

heartily  desire,  and  for  which  they  are  so 
truly  willing  to  labor. 

USE  YOUR  SALT! 

WE  have  spoken  of  salt  in  social  life,  but 
some  one  may  say,  "  I  cannot  be  useful  in 
that  way.  I  am  too  shy  or  dull  of  speech, 
too  insignificant  and  unattractive,  too  incon 
sistent,  too  full  of  faults,  to  do  anything  by 
personal  intercourse." 

Grant  that  you  know  yourself;  find  out 
then  some  work  suitable  to  your  peculiari 
ties  and  the  atom  of  salt  you  are  privileged 
to  possess.  Be  like  Moody,  the  evangelist, 
in  your  energy  and  your  humility.  When 
Moody  was  told,  in  his  early  manhood,  that 
he  was  too  inexperienced  and  too  little  gifted 
to  speak  as  he  had  been  doing  in  a  little 
gathering  of  Christians  for  mutual  edifica 
tion,  he  accepted  the  rebuke,  kept  silence, 
but  sought  out  at  once  a  poor  negro  boy  and 
patiently  taught  him  to  read.  This  was 
work  he  was  sure  he  could  do,  and  he  did  it. 
God  had  greater  work  in  store  for  him ! 


23.  SALT. 

There  is  no  human  being  who  cannot 
have  some  sphere  of  usefulness;  limited  it 
may  be,  but  if  well  filled,  there  is  awaiting 
the  humblest  worker  the  blessed  words  of 
approval,  "  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faith 
ful  servant;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord  !" 

Some  friendly  counsel  lovingly  written 
in  a  letter  to  a  young  friend  may  sink  deep 
into  the  soul  and  prompt  to  better  things. 
Can  you  sing?  Perhaps  your  voice  in  a 
hymn  may  reach  some  heart  closed  to  the 
preached  word. 

Can  you  gather  little  children  about  you, 
perhaps  your  own  brothers  and  sister,  and 
talk  to  them  of  Jesus?  You  can  at  least  read 
to  them  the  "  old,  old  story." 

You' must  be  able  to  make  somebody  hap 
pier  at  least  once  a  day  by  a  friendly,  encour 
aging  word.  If  you  cannot  lift  the  burden 
of  poverty  from  any  home  of  want,  you  can 
perhaps  contribute  some  trifling  comfort 
where  there  is  the  utmost  need,  or  a  little 
gift  that  meets  no  bodily  necessity,  but  cheers 


USE   YOUR   SALT  !  29 

because  it  speaks  of  loving  interest.  Have 
you  no  good  book  to  lend?  Have  you  no 
printed  leaflet,  to  say  to  a  friend  what  will 
not  come  from  your  trembling  lips  ? 

You  can  try  to  be  a  ready  listener  when 
others  talk  of  their  troubles,  and  give  sympa 
thy  if  you  can  give  nothing  else.  You  can 
wear,  perhaps,  the  cheerful  face  that  comes 
from  peace  within,  or  from  full  health  and  a 
naturally  happy  disposition,  or  from  pleasant 
surroundings  and  freedom  from  care.  Go 
then  to  the  lonely  and  sorrowful  and  let  your 
light  be  sunshine  for  them. 

You  say  you  can  do  nothing.  You  can 
certainly  do  the  best  work :  you  can  pray 
earnestly  and  persistently  for  those  whom 
you  would  benefit.  Pray  for  them  by  name 
and  with  individual,  hearty  interest,  and 
there  will  be  blessing  on  your  secret  work  of 
love. 

It  may  be  that  while  you  are  fancying 
you  can  do  nothing  because  of  your  per 
sonal  or  mental  or  moral  deficiencies,  you 
have  yet  a  material  means  of  usefulness, 


30  SALT. 

outside  of  yourself,  which  you  neglect  or 
undervalue. 

Has  the  little  salt  you  possess  found  its 
way  into  your  purse  to  season  thoroughly  its 
contents?  Here  you  perhaps  shelter  your 
self  with  the  excuse  that  you  have  little  to 
give  and  little  wisdom  in  giving.  Perhaps 
you  have  some  wise  friend  who  will  help 
you  and  teach  you  when  and  where  to  give 
what  you  can  spare.  Work  given  and  in 
dustry  encouraged  can  never  be  dangerous. 

Perhaps  you  have  large  means  and  have 
not  yet  felt  your  responsibility.  People  in 
moderate  circumstances  generally  give  more 
liberally  in  proportion  to  their  income  than 
the  very  rich.  They  who  are  accustomed  to 
have  far  more  money  at  their  command  than 
their  mode  of  living  requires  are  subject  to 
a  kind  of  sluggishness  and  indifference  with 
regard  to  the  employment  of  their  surplus. 
Give  yourself  the  trouble  to  think  what  you 
could  possibly  spare  for  benevolent  purposes. 
Be  it  little  or  be  it  much,  let  it  take  a  defi 
nite  form,  in  numbers,  before  your  eyes.  To 


USE  YOUR  SALT!  31 

whom  does  it  belong?  Whose  steward  are 
you  ?  To  whom  must  you  give  an  account 
of  your  stewardship  ? 

Shut  up  in  your  purse,  in  your  bank-book, 
or  in  your  investments,  there  may  be  sums 
that  ought  to  relieve  the  want  in  that  poor 
family,  or  that  might  furnish  work  to  those 
unemployed  hands  that  in  their  helpless  idle 
ness  may  be  tempted  to  steal.  Those  outcast 
children  growing  up  to  be  more  brutes,  sav 
age  brutes,  than  men,  might  be  softened  and 
refined  and  Christianized  and  made  happy 
by  the  use  of  your  idle  treasure  !  How  many 
suffering  patients,  neglected  in  their  sick 
beds,  might  have  kind  care,  with  a  little  help 
from  you ! 

Loosen  your  purse-strings!  Pour  out 
your  gold  !  Pour  it  out,  but  pour  it  by  means 
of  hands  that  are  guided  by  heads  and  hearts 
instructed  in  the  wisest  way  of  giving.  Let 
not  your  gold,  hoarded  for  want  of  resolu 
tion,  rise  up  to  witness  against  you  at  the  last 
great  day ! 

We  have  spoken  of  a  home  of  comfort  as 


32  SALT. 

a  means  of  usefulness,  through  hospitality, 
but  there  are  many  accessories  to  such  a 
home  that  may  be  made  to  pay  tribute.  Who 
has  not  heard  of  or  tried  those  dreary  drives 
"  to  exercise  the  horses,"  as  it  is  generally 
put  ?  How  many  invalids  would  be  glad  to 
have  an  airing  in  that  same  carriage  on  a 
sunny  morning,  if  you  would  take  the  trou 
ble  to  ask  them !  Is  there  no  old  lady  to 
whom  a  chat  with  you,  in  the  quiet  compan 
ionship  of  your  carriage,  would  give  pleasure 
and  refreshment?  Do  you  not  know  some 
little  children  to  whom  the  very  sight  of  the 
horses  and  the  motion  of  the  wheels  would 
be  a  delight,  not  to  speak  of  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  unaccustomed  sights  outside  their 
ordinary  range  for  walking  ? 

The  flowers  that  are  an  e very-day  enjoy 
ment  for  you,  what  pleasure  a  plant  or  a  lit 
tle  bouquet  might  give  in  a  sick-room,  a  home 
of  sorrow,  or  in  some  mean,  low  dwelling- 
place,  where  refined  tastes  must  be  content 
in  poverty  or  self-denial. 

Fruit,  delicate  luxuries  of  the  table,  let 


SALT   IN   CONVERSATION.  33 

them  find  their  way  sometimes  to  palates 
grown  dainty  through  long  confinement ;  let 
them  find  their  way  with  a  friendly  message 
of  inquiry  for  the  invalid. 

What  are  you  doing  for  home  missions  ? 
Help  the  true-hearted  men  and  women  who 
are  living  among  the  poor  and  stretching 
out  to  the  lost  the  hand  of  Christian  love ! 

We  repeat,  if  you  are  shy  and  retiring 
and  uninteresting,  perhaps  God  has  given 
you  a  power  for  good  that  is  slumbering  in 
your  purse. 

"  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give !" 
and  we  may  add,  freely  give  and  you  will 
freely  receive,  even  a  joy  the  purest  that 
wealth  can  bestow. 

SALT  IN  CONVERSATION. 

"  Let  your  conversation  be  with  grace  seasoned  with 
salt." 

To  talk  piously  on  purpose  is  a  very  dan 
gerous  experiment,  and  however  it  may  profit 
the  listener,  is  sure  to  be  injurious  to  the 


34  SALT. 

speaker.  Be  at  least  natural,  true,  and  sin 
cere  in  all  that  pertains  to  your  religion. 

Strange  to  say,  in  these  over-civilized 
days,  to  be  natural  seems  to  be  a  rare  and 
difficult  attainment.  We  even  speak  of  it  as 
a  special  and  uncommon  charm.  This  lack 
is  a  sore  drawback  to  the  enjoyment  of  ordi 
nary  social  life,  but  it  is  inexcusable  and  in- 
admissable  in  religion.  Here  we  may  only 
speak  as  the  heart  prompts,  and  it  is  to  the 
heart  we  must  look  as  the  source  of  profit 
able  religious  conversation.  All  religious 
talk  that  does  not  come  from  a  heart,  truly 
given  to  God  is  treason  towards  man  and  an 
offence  towards  our  Maker. 

The  idea  has  somehow  come  to  prevail 
that  one  must  talk  for  the  spiritual  advantage 
of  the  listeners.  Quite  the  contrary:  you 
must  be  what  you  ought  to  be,  and  then  your 
most  unconscious  words  as  well  as  acts  may 
be  a  help  and  a  blessing. 

If  you  thoroughly  abhor  what  is  wrong  in 
yourself  as  well  as  in  others,  you  will  feel 
the  pure  and  righteous  indignation  that  will 


SALT   IN   CONVERSATION.  35 

prompt  you  to  rebuke  sinful  talk  by  a  digni 
fied  silence  or  by  a  well-timed  expression  of 
disapproval.  If  the  spiritual  life  of  your 
friends  is  your  deepest  interest  for  them,  you 
will  surely  find  the  time  and  occasion  to  come 
near  to  them  on  the  most  important  of  all 
subjects. 

If  your  heart  is  full  of  love  to  God  and 
welling  over  with  his  peace  and  joy,  you  will 
not  need  to  try  to  talk  about  it,  but  rather  to 
be  on  your  guard  that  you  do  not  too  freely 
open  your  secret  soul  to  others,  to  the  dim 
ming  of  your  own  inner  life. 

It  is  a  good  rule  in  conversation  to  listen 
and  learn  when  a  subject  is  agitated  about 
which  you  know  little  or  nothing.  The  same 
rule  is  valuable  as  to  religious  matters.  A 
quiet  listener  to  a  talk  on  holy  things  is  often 
more  profited  than  those  who  join  in  the 
conversation.  Be  "  slow  to  speak  "  is  here  a 
wise  and  salutary  caution,  especially  in  the 
presence  of  many  hearers.  In  a  tete-a-tete 
it  is  quite  different.  There  two  friends  may 
safely  open  their  hearts  to  each  other  to  the 


36  SALT. 

advantage  of  both,  and  such,  communion  is 
often  a  real  source  of  growth  in  the  religious 
life. 

If  you  are  a  Christian  at  all,  of  course  your 
whole  conversation  should  be  thoroughly 
salted  by  the  strong  negative  influence  that 
seals  your  lips  to  all  that  offends  against  the 
law  of  love.  All  slander,  gossip,  ridicule,  all 
falsity,  all  harshness,  bitterness  of  retort  and 
scornful  suppression  of  the  gentle,  will  be 
unknown  to  you.  The  slightest  breath  of 
impurity  in  anecdote  or  allusion  will  be  ab 
horred  and  avoided.  The  drollest  story  that 
touches  on  irreverence  will  be  sacrificed  and 
kept  back.  The  piquant  hit  couched  in  the 
words  of  Scripture  will  never  pass  your  lips. 
There  is  no  danger  of  being  over- watchful 
on  these  points.  If  it  is  with  the  tongue  you 
most  frequently  offend,  chain  it !  Accustom 
yourself  to  an  irksome  silence  till  you  can 
have  it,  at  least  in  a  measure,  under  your 
control.  This  negative  salting  of  your  con 
versation  will  doubtless  be  more  useful  to 
your  fellows  than  any  directly  religious 


SALT   AND   CORRUPTION.  37 

words  that  are  in  danger  of  being  soon  fol 
lowed  by  your  uttering  something  that  of 
fends  against  reverence  or  purity  or  love. 


SALT  AND  CORRUPTION. 

IT  is  the  bodies  that  are  made  for  life  that 
fall  into  decay.  Let  that  life  be  wholly  or 
partially  extinct,  or  let  its  functions  cease  in 
but  one  portion  of  the  system,  and  corruption 
begins.  How  eagerly  we  remove  from  the 
neighborhood  of  our  homes  the  dead  animal, 
late  so  full  of  life,  but  now  a  loathsome  ob 
ject.  If  it  be  suffered  to  remain  near  the 
dwellings  of  men  it  will  be  a  revolting  source 
of  discomfort  and  even  of  alarming  or  mor 
tal  illness.  The  very  plants  in  their  decay 
must  be  put  far  from  us  or  consumed  by  the 
purifying  fire. 

Far  more  horrible,  far  more  dangerous,  is  a 
soul  given  over  to  moral  corruption.  Moral 
decay  in  your  neighborhood  as  surely  taints 
the  air  as  the  grossest  forms  of  material  rot 
tenness.  It  may  work  more  slowly,  but  the 


38  SALT. 

result  is  inevitable  and  sure.  To  this  you 
perhaps  willingly  shut  your  eyes. 

You  may  think  yourself  of  the  salt  of  the 
earth  and  live  on  comfortably  in  your  pure 
and  tranquil  home,  unmindful  of  the  sink  of 
sin  perhaps  in  your  very  neighborhood.  Mar 
ble  walls  and  curtains  of  lace  cannot  keep 
out  its  contagion.  It  is  perhaps  corrupting 
your  children  before  you  know  it.  It  is 
coming  into  your  house  through  the  back 
alleys.  Your  servants  are  feeling  it.  Per 
haps  you  yourself  are  unconsciously  taking 
in  the  poison. 

Is  there  nothing  to  stay  this  corruption  ? 
"  The  salt  of  the  earth  "  must  anticipate  and 
prevent  the  ruin  wrought  in  and  by  these 
decaying  masses.  They  must  salt  these  im 
perilled  classes  and  preserve  them  from  utter 
ruin. 

There  are  places  where  vice  and  crime  run 
riot  in  Christian  lands,  and  so-called  Chris 
tians  shut  their  eyes  and  close  their  ears  and 
think  to  go  peacefully  on  towards  heaven. 
Perhaps  at  heaven's  gate  they  may  be  met 


SALT  AND    CORRUPTION.  39 

with  the  solemn  question,  "Where  is  thy 
brother?"  Can  they  then  plead  the  excuse 
of  a  selfish  love  of  ease  or  a  cold  indifference 
to  their  fellow-men  ? 

Even  in  this  world  the  retribution  may 
come.  The  human  race  is  one.  You  stand 
or  fall  with  it.  Your  own  nation  is  one.  You 
must  share  its  blessing  or  its  curse.  You 
cannot  escape  the  consequences  of  sin  that 
is  festering  around  you.  Pestilence  from  the 
noisome  homes  of  the  poor,  anarchy,  tumults, 
confusion,  the  disorganization  of  society,  sin 
in  the  upper  classes,  sin  in  the  lower  class 
es — these  and  many  nameless  horrors  threat 
en  you.  You  cannot  if  you  will  wrap  around 
you  the  garments  of  your  own  sanctity  and 
resolve  to  know  nothing  of  the  sin  that  is  at 
your  very  doors.  You  may  have  a  rough 
waking,  the  waking  of  the  passenger  in  the 
sinking  ship,  too  late  even  for  his  own  es 
cape.  Wake  now !  Be  active  !  Save  at  least 
the  children !  Can  you  not  take  charge  of 
one  "  little  one,"  who  without  your  helping 
hand  would  grow  up  in  sin  and  sink  down 


40  SALT. 

into  the  homes  of  vice  ?  Intemperance,  what 
are  you  doing-  to  check  the  advance  of  this 
horrible  enemy,  destroying  yearly  its  thou 
sands  of  victims  ? 

If  you  will  but  really  open  your  eyes  you 
will  have  no  sleep  for  them,  no  slumber  for 
your  eyelids,  till  you  personally  as  a  Chris 
tian  are  doing  something  to  reform  the  vi 
cious  or  at  least  to  save  the  children  from  a 
career  of  sin  and  shame. 

SALT  AND  SACRIFICE. 
"Every  sacrifice  shall  be  salted  with  salt." 

WE  are  all  familiar  in  daily  life  with  cer 
tain  would-be  unselfish  people  who  go  about 
with  a  resigned  air,  helping  everybody  con 
tinually,  yet  making  everybody  uncomforta 
ble  by  an  expression  which  seems  to  say,  "  I 
am  imposed  upon  and  I  know  it;  but  I  am 
so  lovely  I  am  willing  to  be  sacrificed  for 
others." 

Such  a  life  of  self-sacrifice  is  not  necessa 
rily  a  sham,  but  it  is  without  the  true  salt  of 


SALT   AND   SACRIFICE.  41 

love,  which  can  alone  make  it  a  blessing  both 
to  the  giver  and  the  receiver.  It  is  hard  to 
accept  such  service,  really  half-grudgingly 
tendered,  be  it  in  the  sick-room,  by  the 
hearthstone,  or  in  the  intercourse  of  neigh 
bor  with  neighbor. 

It  is  written,  "  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giv 
er,"  and  in  this  at  least  we  are  all  like  our 
Heavenly  Father.  Give  rather,  if  need  be, 
less  service,  but  give  for  love,  and  let  love 
be  mingled  in  all  service.  What  you  do  for 
others  do  heartily  and  willingly  and  cheer 
ily  ;  so  will  your  life  be  a  source  of  joy  as 
well  as  help  to  all  around  you. 

It  is  even  possible  to  go  on  a  mission  to 
the  heathen  or  to  minister  to  the  wants  of 
the  poor  in  a  dreary  and  yet  a  self-righteous 
spirit.  The  foreign  missionary  can  have  a 
sanctimonious  air,  as  if  he  were  holy  and 
self-sacrificing  above  all  men,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  most  miserable.  His  offering 
should  rather  be  salted  with  an  unconscious, 
self-forgetting,  cheerful  devotedness. 

A  so-called  friend  of  the  poor  may  give 
6 


42  SALT. 

time  and  interest  to  benevolent  purposes,  and 
yet  be  full  of  complaints  that  the  best  hours 
of  the  day  are  taken  up  with  hearing  these 
tiresome  applicants  or  in  visiting  "  those  try 
ing,  ungrateful  paupers."  All  this  may  be 
said  in  the  martyr  spirit  that  would  will 
ingly  have  its  martyrdom  known.  This  too 
is  a  sacrifice  without  salt ! 

As  to  money,  better  the  two  loving  mites 
of  the  widow  than  the  purse  full  of  gold 
grudgingly  or  ostentatiously  given,  no  salt 
in  the  offering.  Of  this  most  Christians  are 
convinced :  but  whose  practice  will  always 
bear  the  test  ? 

But  what  of  the  great  offering  of  all  you 
are  and  all  you  have,  the  full  consecration 
which  is  a  necessary  part  of  a  true,  deep- 
established  Christian  life  ?  A  man  may  reck 
on  up  his  powers  of  usefulness,  all  the  essen 
tial  parts  of  his  being,  and  all  his  possessions, 
and  with  this  inventory  in  hand  question 
himself  whether  he  has  offered  or  is  willing 
to  offer  up  to  the  very  essence  of  his  being 
and  the  last  atom  of  his  possessions. 


SALT   AND    SACRIFICE.  43 

He  may  answer  in  the  affirmative  and 
yet  not  be  giving  to  the  Lord  in  the  spirit  of 
love,  as  the  child  gives,  as  the  mother  gives, 
as  the  true  wife  gives,  not  counting  or  reck 
oning,  but  with  a  depth  of  affection  that  can 
keep  back  nothing  because  it  can  own  noth 
ing  apart  from  the  beloved  one.  Where  true 
love  has  had  the  victory  there  is  an  end  to 
mine  and  thine  ;  all  favors,  all  possessions 
are  but  tributary  means  of  promoting  the 
joy  of  the  beloved  one  or  of  furthering  his 
wishes. 

Think  not  to  be  able  to  say  to  the  Lord  in 
a  mercenary  spirit,  "  I  have  given  everything 
I  am  and  have,  and  now  in  return  I  shall 
receive  all." 

There  are  many  devout  souls  who  uncon 
sciously  have  given  all  to  the  Lord  and  but 
live  to  render  him  a  glad  and  willing  ser 
vice.  His  almighty  love  has  so  taken  hold 
of  their  hearts  that  they  count  nothing  their 
own.  Time,  money,  and  affections  are  all 
consecrated  to  him  in  whom  they  truly  "  live 
and  move  and  have  their  being."  This  is 


44  SALT. 

true  consecration.  This  is  the  offering-  that 
springs  naturally  from  the  loving  gratitude 
of  the  pardoned  sinner,  the  ransomed  pris 
oner,  or  the  repentant  prodigal  humbly  re 
joicing  in  the  presence  of  his  Father,  serv 
ing,  but  serving  as  a  son  in  his  Father's 
house ! 

SALT  IN  THE  HOME. 

"AN  impurity  of  three  per  cent,  makes 
salt  unfit  for  domestic  purposes." 

It  is  first  in  the  home  that  the  true  Chris 
tian  life  finds  its  sorest  test.  It  is  compara 
tively  easy  for  the  spurious  form  to  hold  its 
place  with  the  outside  world,  but  at  home  its 
true  nature  is  betrayed. 

To  be  of  use  at  home  one  must  be  much 
at  home.  Many  despise  this  slow,  unosten 
tatious,  prosaic  way  of  doing  good.  They 
must  be  running  hither  and  thither,  neg 
lecting  their  private  e very-day  duties  for 
something  more  heroic,  more  telling,  "  more 
fruit-bringing,  more  satisfactory,"  to  use 
their  own  words.  There  is  nothing  more 


SALT   IN   THE   HOME.  45 

unsatisfactory  in  the  end  than  a  neglected 
home ! 

The  mother  whom  all  are  praising  for 
her  active  benevolence,  who  has  her  bonnet 
on  from  morning  to  night  to  be  at  this  bazaar 
and  that  committee,  to  speak  a  little  here 
and  exhort  a  little  there,  while  her  young 
children  quarrel  and  pilfer,  or  by  incom 
petent  nurses  are  bribed  to  submission  by 
this  unlawful  tit-bit  or  that  forbidden  indul 
gence  ;  yes,  the  mother  who  so  deserts  her 
proper  charge  will  find,  too  late,  pampered 
bodies  in  full  mastery  and  evil  habits  formed 
and  wrong  propensities  established  which 
subsequent  care  can  hardly  eradicate. 

The  simple,  quiet,  stay-at-home  mother 
with  a  sound  Christian  life  has  often  a 
slow  and  sure  influence  for  good  that  is  ines 
timable.  She  may  not  be  gifted ;  she  may 
not  be  brilliant,  but  there  is  about  her  an 
atmosphere  of  rest  and  peace  and  comfort 
and  love  which  the  little  ones  know  without 
understanding,  and  the  elder  members  of 
t]je  family  know  and  understand  and  appre- 


46  SALT. 

date.  Such  mothers  are  the  most  uniformly 
successful  in  rearing  a  Christian  family. 

There  are  other  mothers,  more  gifted, 
more  brilliant,  who  have  the  family  machin 
ery  in  full  order,  and  dare  to  be  absent  now 
and  then  for  a  friendly  visit  or  an  errancj  of 
mercy,  and  come  back  to  their  natural  sphere, 
themselves  refreshed  and  brightened,  to  cast 
joyousness  about  them  like  a  flash  of  sun 
shine  and  to  awake  an  enthusiastic  affection 
for  themselves  through  the  whole  household. 
Such  mothers  have  a  wonderful  formative 
power.  They  carry  all  with  them,  husband 
and  children  and  servants,  and  carry  them 
in  a  right  direction,  towards  a  cheerful,  lov 
ing  home  life  and  a  warm-hearted  Christian 
interest  in  the  outside  world. 

Again,  there  are  the  invalid  mothers  who 
must  often  in  the  quiet  sick-room  bear  their 
pains  in  the  strength  that  cometh  from  on 
high.  They  are  lifted  above  the  world  by 
their  frequent  communion  with  their  heav 
enly  Friend.  They  have  a  deep  spiritual  life 
that  spreads  through  the  family  circle,  a 


SALT   IN   THE   HOME.  47 

blessed  salt  that  silently  seasons  the  whole 
and  fits  it  for  the  Master's  use.  God  bless 
the  invalid  mothers !  They  are  always  at 
home,  they  are  instant  in  -prayer,  they  bear 
their  cross  meekly  and  bravely,  and  not  sel 
dom  that  crown  awaits  them  which  is  only 
given  to  them  that  "  turn  many  to  righteous 
ness." 

We  have  spoken  first  of  the  mother  in 
the  home  because  she  must  be  there  the  cen 
tral  figure :  that  her  piety  should  be  of  the 
sterling  kind  is  all-important.  The  father  is 
more  like  a  commanding  general.  He  can 
not  always  be  in  intercourse  with  his  little 
soldiers;  but  on  his  faithfulness  to  his  Al 
mighty  King,  his  bravery  in  the  battle  of 
life,  and  his  wisdom  and  justice,  the  fate  of 
his  little  army  may  depend.  They  look  to 
him  for  commands  in  all  important  matters, 
and  his  approval  is  a  dear  and  precious  re 
ward  they  well  know  how  to  prize. 

What  a  privilege,  what  an  honor  has  been 
given  to  the  father !  He  is  allowed  to  stand 
before  his  family  as  an  image  of  the  great 


48  SALT. 

heavenly  Friend  !  Alas  for  him  if  he  makes 
the  name  of  father  a  symbol  of  harshness 
or  coldness  or  injustice  or  repulsiveness ! 
Alas  for  the  family  where  the  father  is  the 
slave  of  the  body  or  the  drudge  in  the  ser 
vice  of  worldly  honor  or  riches.  Alas  for 
the  father  if  he  so  loses  the  respect  and  affec 
tion  of  his  children  that  the  very  opening  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer  goes  reluctantly  over  their 
infant  lips,  and  they  cannot  turn  with  love 
and  reverence  towards  God  if  he  be  called 
by  the  name  of  Father  ! 

The  piety  of  a  sister  must  be  more  than 
the  reading  of  devotional  books  and  the  fre 
quenting  of  many  religious  services,  if  her 
brothers  are  not  to  regard  her  religion  as  a 
wretched  sham.  She  must  be  lovely  and 
lovable  in  the  earthly  home,  if  she  is  to  lead 
her  brothers  towards  the  heavenly  home 
which  she  so  fervently  prays  may  be  in  store 
for  them  ! 

Has  the  brother  who  indulges  himself  in 
disrespect  to  his  parents,  in  unbecoming,  ir 
reverent  language,  who  speaks  lightly  of  sin 


SALT   IN   THE   HOME.  49 

and  yields  himself  to  life's  temptations,  has 
he  thought  of  his  influence  on  his  brothers 
and  sisters  ?  Will  he  willingly  destroy  them 
by  his  evil  example  ?  Inconsistent,  even  bad 
young  men,  are  sometimes  caressingly  fond 
of  the  little  ones  of  the  family.  Let  such 
young  men,  if  there  is  an  atom  of  real  love 
left  in  them,  spare  the  children  the  pollution 
of  an  unholy  example  !  Let  them  be  them 
selves  what  they  would  wish  these  baby 
prattlers  to  be  when  they  one  day  come  out 
into  the  battle  of  life  or  stand  at  the  gates 
of  death ! 

But  there  are  members  of  the  household, 
not  by  birth  or  education,  but  such  as  by 
the  providence  of  God  have  come  to  cast  in 
their  lot  with  the  family  as  faithful  servants. 
What  a  tie  binds  together  a  true  Christian 
household !  Master  and  mistress  and  chil 
dren  and  servants,  all  walking  in  the  heav 
enly  way,  in  daily  interchange  of  mutual 
kindness  and  Christian  communion  —  these 
are  the  households  that  God  will  abundantly 
bless!  These  are  the  bright  spots  in  this 

Salt  J 


50  SALT. 

dark  earth !  Happy  the  mistress  of  such  a 
family,  happy  the  servant  who  may  find  a 
welcome  and  a  firm  foothold  in  such  a 
home! 

INSPECTORS  OF  SALT. 

"  IN  many  salt-works  there  are  inspectors 
appointed  to  test  the  salt  and  brand  it  ac 
cording  to  its  quality." — PECKHAM. 

Inspectors  of  the  true  salt,  appointed  and 
not  appointed,  have  at  all  times  had  their 
places  in  the  church.  There  has  been  the 
old  method,  by  authorized  officials,  who  in 
quired  into  the  most  minute  particulars  of 
daily  life  and  devotional  duties,  and  scrutin 
ized  and  criticised  and  disciplined  the  offend 
ers. 

There  has  been  the  later  method  of 
sounding  the  deep  inner  experiences  of  the 
soul,  and  its  consciousness  of  acceptance  with 
the  Heavenly  Father. 

All  this  supervision  and  dissection  of  the 
life  outward  and  inward,  with  the  laudable 
desire  to  keep  the  church  pure,  has  proved 


INSPECTORS   OF   SALT.  51 

powerless  to  exclude  a  large  class  of  persist 
ent  evil-doers  who  fell  under  the  most  severe 
condemnation  of  our  Lord  when  on  earth, 
even  the  hypocrites  and  the  self-righteous. 

All  this  machinery,  which  must  be  more 
or  less  inadequate,  could  be  done  away  with 
and  discarded  if  but  the  individual  members 
of  the  church  would  be  faithful  in  the  much- 
neglected  and  much-disliked  duty  of  self- 
examination. 

Only  the  man  himself  can  truly  know  the 
state  of  his  own  soul  before  God.  This  he 
shrinks  from  ascertaining,  like  the  timid 
patient  who,  suspecting  that  he  has  some 
secret  and  mortal  disease,  undergoes  months 
and  years  of  pain  and  anxiety  before  he  will 
simply  ask  a  skilful  physician  what  are  his 
prospects  for  life  or  death. 

It  is  not  that  rules  for  self-examination 
are  lacking.  It  is  not  the  want  of  time  of 
which  the  honest  can  complain.  The  thing 
is  simple,  if  you  have  a  hearty  will  to  set 
yourself  to  the  work. 

You  may  bring  to  bear  on  your  self-exam- 


52  SALT. 

ination  the  same  calm,  sound  judgment  that 
you.  would  use  in  important  worldly  matters. 
You  have  the  inspired  Word  for  an  infallible 
guide.  The  character  of  the  true  servant 
of  God  is  there  too  faithfully  described  for 
you  to  be  at  a  loss  about  its  unfailing  out 
lines.  The  distinction  is  broad  and  simple. 
There  is  no  middle  ground.  Either  you  are 
a  child  of  God  or  you  are  not.  Go  numbly 
and  prayerfully  and  honestly  to  the  work. 
Find  out  surely  and  certainly  where  you  be 
long. 

If  after  this  examination  of  your  aims, 
your  occupations  and  your  affections,  you 
have  the  calm  and  glad  conviction  that  you 
are,  and  wish  above  all  things  to  be,  a  child 
of  God,  thank  your  Heavenly  Father  in  all 
humility.  Pray  to  be  hourly  kept  from  fall 
ing,  and  to  be  made  stronger  in  the  great 
duties  of  love  to  God  and  man. 

Do  not  be  driven  to  despair  if  all  be  not 
right  with  your  Christian  life.  Thanks  be  to 
God,  though  self-condemned  you  may  plead 
like  the  dying  thief  for  a  share  in  the  abun- 


UNAUTHORIZED    INSPECTORS.  53 

dant  compassion  of  Him  who  was  tempted  in 
all  points  as  we  are,  and  yet  without  sin. 

Repentant,  accepted,  forgiven,  you  must 
go  bravely  and  prayerfully  on  in  your  Chris 
tian  course,  keeping  near  to  the  Elder  Bro 
ther  who  has  known  your  sin  and  your  re 
pentance,  and  is  able  so  to  cleanse  you  that 
he  can  present  you  pure  and  holy  before  the 
throne  of  the  Heavenly  King. 

UNAUTHORIZED  INSPECTORS. 

You  have  a  white  powder  before  you.  It 
may  be  salt  or  sugar  or  borax  or  arsenic  or  a 
hundred  other  things.  You  must  touch  it, 
smell  it,  or  even  taste  it,  or  perhaps  mix  it 
with  other  substances,  before  you  can  tell 
surely  what  it  really  is. 

The  trained  inspector,  even  when  he  is 
certain  that  he  is  dealing  with  salt,  is  careful 
to  examine  it  properly  before  he  will  pro 
nounce  upon  its  quality. 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  unauthorized  in 
spectors  of  the  spiritual  salt  ?  They  are  will- 


54  SALT. 

ing  to  pronounce  judgment  from  a  passing 
word,  a  single  interview,  an  attitude,  the 
cut  of  a  dress,  a  hasty  expression  of  an  opin 
ion,  or  the  betrayal  of  a  single  fault,  on  the 
character  or  real  existence  of  that  subtle 
thing,  a  devout  inner  life  ! 

They  will  own  that  there  is  rock  salt  deep 
down  in  the  everlasting  hills,  salt  in  the  wide 
sea,  in  the  welling  springs,  and  in  the  won 
derful  lakes,  each  to  be  separated  from  its 
impurities  and  to  be  used  after  its  kind ;  but 
the  specimens  of  the  true  salt  must  be  alike 
from  the  very  beginning,  all  after  the  same 
pattern,  like  bullets  cast  in  the  same  mould ! 
God  has  always  in  his  works  uniformity  with 
variety.  In  nature  the  leaves  of  a  single 
tree  are  of  the  same  form  surely,  but  not 
alike  to  a  hair's  breadth  ;  of  the  same  color, 
but  of  how  many  varying  shades  ! 

Every  Christian  has  through  his  natural 
character  and  his  experience  the  capacity  to 
develop  into  something  peculiarly  lovely,  to 
the  glory  of  his  Maker  and  for  the  good  of 
his  fellow-men.  He  can  be,  through  the 


UNAUTHORIZED   INSPECTORS.  55 

grace  of  God,  a  sanctified  soul,  different  from 
every  other,  and  a  precious  gift  to  the  church 
of  the  Lord.  He  has  too,  alas !  his  peculiar 
faults  and  temptations  and  shortcomings.  It 
is  his  responsibility  to  so  place  himself  under 
his  Saviour's  teaching  and  influence  that  the 
good  in  him  may  be  fostered  and  the  evil 
suppressed.  To  his  own  Master  he  standeth 
or  falleth.  Leave  that  Master  to  pronounce 
on  his  completed  work  ! 

Is  it  in  vain  that  it  is  written, "  Judge  not, 
that  ye  be  not  judged  "  ?  Must  fellow-Chris 
tians  be  found  seizing  one  another  by  the 
throat  with  the  cry,  "  Pay  me  that  thou 
owest!"  forgetful  of  their  own  great  debt, 
cancelled  alone  by  their  blessed  Redeemer  ? 

"The  impurities  of  salt  are  different  in 
kind  and  quality,"  and  it  is  even  so  with  the 
spiritual  salt.  This  is  why  the  would-be 
charitable  are  often  harsh  and  severe  in  their 
judgments.  They  are  ready  to  overlook 
faults  or  temptations  which  they  themselves 
understand,  or  which  they  have  set  down 
in  their  own  small  list  of  pardonable  sins 


$6  SALT. 

or  admissible  shortcomings.  God  has  no 
such  list.  The  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth 
from  all  sin  in  the  repentant  believer  as  well 
as  in  the  just-awakened  sinner. 

God  alone  knows  the  temptations  that 
assail  any  one  human  soul.  He  alone  knows 
its  power  of  resistance  and  the  mode  and 
strength  of  its  struggles.  He  knows  for  what 
he  is  forming  the  instrument.  Its  past  and 
its  future  are  known  to  him  alone.  The 
patience  of  God  towards  man  is  inexplicably 
great.  The  patience  of  man  towards  man  is 
infinitely  little. 

The  brother  you  despise  may  be  called  to 
a  work  for  which  you  would  be  incompetent. 
The  soul  that  you  condemn  in  the  midst  of 
the  fires  may  be  purified  till  it  will  reflect  at 
last  its  Master's  noble  image. 

If  you  must  judge  your  fellow-Christians, 
judge  them  as  a  tender  mother  judges  her 
erring  son,  in  the  spirit  of  an  abounding 
lovee  She  sees  his  sin  as  his  danger.  His 
faults  are  symptoms  of  threatened  destruc 
tion.  Her  heart  warms  towards  him  in  his 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION.  57 

peril.  Her  spirit  yearns  to  help  him.  She 
tries  to  win  him  from  his  temptations  by 
increased  affection  and  loving  counsel  and 
importunate  prayer  to  her  Heavenly  Father 
for  her  darling.  She  does  not  spread  abroad 
the  tale  of  his  misdoings.  She  is  slow  to 
speak  of  his  shortcomings.  Even  unkind- 
ness  to  her  cannot  alienate  her.  She  watches 
and  loves,  and  waits  for  better  things.  So 
deal  with  your  fellow  -  Christians,  and  the 
blessing  of  God  will  be  on  you  and  them ! 

GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF 
SALT. 

FAMILY  affection  and  the  love  of  country 
are  among  the  most  beautiful  traits  of  the 
natural  man.  Yet  family  affection  may  be 
come  an  enlarged  selfishness,  a  hedging  in  of 
the  love  that  should  find  its  way  to  our  most 
distant  neighbors.  The  love  of  country  may 
so  narrow  down  one's  circle  of  vision  that 
one  can  see  nothing  good  beyond  the  bounds 
of  one's  native  land.  There  are  persons  who 
will  despise  everything  from  the  Christian 
8 


58  SALT. 

literature  of  other  lands,  and  listen  to  no  reli 
gious  teacher  not  born  or  nurtured  under 
their  own  flag. 

There  is  to  be  a  time  when  the  King  of 
kings  shall  reign  the  round  world  over.  May 
you  not  anticipate  some  of  the  blessings  of 
that  glorious  day  by  a  cordial  appreciation 
of  the  light  the  Sun  of  righteousness  may 
be  flashing  on  lands  distant  from  your  own  ? 
Ought  you  not  to  be  willing  to  learn  from 
your  fellow -Christians  in  any  part  of  the 
earth  ?  Ought  you  not  to  meet  them  person 
ally,  when  you  can,  and  love  them  as  breth 
ren  ?  Ought  you  not  to  be  so  closely  bound 
to  our  Lord  and  Master  by  the  bonds  of  love 
that  your  heart  will  go  out  spontaneously  in 
fellowship  towards  all  who  worthily  bear  his 
name  and  reflect  his  image  ? 

Do  you  claim  to  be  of  the  salt  of  the 
earth,  of  the  whole  earth?  What  then  are 
you  doing  for  the  heathen?  Perhaps  you 
say  you  are  leaving  them  to  the  mercy  of  God. 
But  can  you  blot  out  the  command  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  all  nations?  Living  in  a 


SALT  WITHOUT  SAVOR.  59 

Christian  country,  and  gratefully  enjoying 
its  privileges,  have  you  no  pity  for  the  mil 
lions  of  human  beings  indulging  in  all  sin, 
and  reaping  the  bitter  consequences  here  on 
earth?  Have  you  no  desire  to  share  your 
greatest  consolation  with  the  nations  that 
must  suffer  pain  and  affliction,  and  feel  the 
approach  of  death  with  no  sense  of  the  Al 
mighty  arm  around  them  to  sustain  them 
here,  and  no  sure  hope  beyond  the  grave, 
to  light  the  dark  valley  ?  Have  you  no  heart 
or  time  or  money  to  give  towards  telling 
in  every  tongue  the  story  of  the  cross  ?  Can 
you  not,  by  self-denial,  help  on  this  glorious 
work  ?  Can  you  not  give  it  its  rightful  place 
in  your  interest  and  in  your  prayers  ? 

THE   SALT   THAT  HAS  LOST  ITS 
SAVOR. 

OUR  thoughts  turn  back  to  a  motionless 
figure  standing  rigid  on  a  desolate  plain.  It 
bears  a  human  form,  but  it  is  form  alone. 
Its  substance  is  changed.  There  is  no  life 
in  it.  It  is  material  salt,  but  not  for  helpful 


60  SALT. 

household  use,  not  to  be  served  with  the 
bread  as  a  sign  of  hospitality,  not  to  purify 
the  substances  with  which  it  is  blended. 
Its  whiteness  is  to  be  sullied  by  the  driving 
sand ;  its  depths  are  to  be  penetrated  by  the 
sulphurous  fumes  that  fill  the  air ;  its  last 
glitter  is  to  reflect  the  angry  flames  from  the 
city  of  destruction.  Once  the  wife  of  a 
righteous  man,  delivered  with  him  by  the 
angels  from  the  wrath  that  fell  on  the  city  of 
their  abode,  that  desolate,  tainted  pillar  of 
salt  stands  an  emblem  of  the  almost  saved, 
the  salt  that  has  lost  its  savor  and  is  cast  out, 
unfit  even  for  the  dunghill.  Let  us  see  well 
to  it  that  there  is  no  root  of  bitterness  in  us, 
no  besetting  sin,  no  secret  temptation,  no 
growing  coldness  and  indifference  to  spir 
itual  things,  no  deafness  to  the  voice  of  con 
science,  that  may  bring  us  at  last  to  that 
lowest  depth,  the  condition  of  one  who  has 
been  numbered  with  the  children  of  God, 
but  has  lost  his  heavenly  crown  ! 

Let  us  watch  and  pray  and  strive,  lest  we 
should  hear  those  words  of  condemnation, 


THE   PERFECT   MAN.  6 1 

"  I   know   you   not !     Depart    from    me,   ye 
workers  of  iniquity !" 

THE  PERFECT  MAN. 

IT  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  the  struggles 
and  shortcomings  and  possible  condemna 
tion  of  the  so-called  salt  of  the  earth  to  the 
one  only  perfect  Example. 

The  saints  below  are  at  best  a  poor  and 
faint  image  of  the  one  perfect  Man,  the  man 
Christ  Jesus.  We  have  him  no  more  beside 
us  in  bodily  form,  but  his  presence,  if  we  are 
truly  his  own,  is  around  us  and  about  us  and 
within  us,  a  presence  that  brings  light  and 
consolation  and  sacred  joy.  We  can  think 
and  speak  and  act  in  the  consciousness  that 
his  loving  eye  is  upon  us.  We  can  fly  to 
him  at  once  in  temptation,  sure  of  conquest 
through  his  freely  given  aid.  We  can  look 
to  him  for  comfort  in  outward  affliction  and 
in  troubles  of  which  the  world  cannot  know. 
We  may  live  a  life  of  such  nearness  to  him 
that  we  shall  day  by  day  be  conformed  to 
his  image.  This  is  our  blessed  privilege ! 


62  SALT. 

"  Thanks  be  unto  God  for  his  unspeakable 
gift!" 

THE  PERFECT  HOME. 

THERE  is  a  place  where  what  the  children 
of  God  have  most  longed  for  on  earth  will  be 
enjoyed  in  its  fulness.  Here  they  may  not 
shut  themselves  up  to  walking  only  with 
their  brethren.  Such  is  not  their  present 
mission.  In  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  there 
awaits  them  the  choicest  companionship. 
There  even  we,  if  we  are  faithful  disciples, 
may  sit  down  with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and 
Jacob.  There  we  may  come  "unto  the  in 
numerable  company  of  angels,  to  the  gen 
eral  assembly  of  the  first-born,  which  are 
written  in  heaven,"  "to  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect,  to  God  the  judge  of  all, 
and  to  Jesus  the  mediator  of  the  new  cove 
nant." 

What  society  to  look  forward  to  !  What 
converse,  what  sympathy,  what  joy  there 
will  be  in  heaven !  There  we  shall  need  no 
purifying  fires,  for  we  shall  be  washed  and 


THE   PERFECT   HOME.  63 

made  white  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
There  we  shall  not  mistake  or  misjudge  our 
brethren,  for  all  will  be  clothed  in  the  gar 
ments  that  befit  the  bride,  the  Church  of 
Christ !  There  the  Lord  will  come  in  and 
sup  with  his  children,  and  they  with  him,  a 
united  family. 

There  there  will  be  "  no  more  strangers 
and  foreigners ;"  all  will  be  fellow-citizens  of 
the  house  of  God. 

There  there  will  be  no  more  fear  of  com 
ing  into  the  condemnation  of  the  virgins 
with  no  oil  in  their  lamps,  no  falling  from 
the  first  love,  no  blotting  of  names  from  the 
Book  of  Life. 

There  the  saints  will  have  received  their 
crowns.  Thankfully  casting  them  down  be 
fore  the  throne  of  their  King,  they  will  wor 
ship  him,  saying,  "  Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord, 
to  receive  glory,  honor,  and  power,  for  thou 
hast  created  all  things,  and  for  thy  pleasure 
they  are  and  were  created."  "  Even  we  are 
the  works  of  God's  hands,"  created  in  his 
likeness  and  redeemed  by  his  love. 


64  SALT. 

We  may  be  brought  into  His  holy  city, 
where  the  tabernacle  of  God  shall  be  with 
men,  and  he  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they 
shall  be  his  people,  and  God  himself  shall  be 
with  them  and  be  their  God.  And  God 
shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes ; 
and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither 
sorrow  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  pain,  for  the  former  things  shall  have 
passed  away." 

Let  us  lift  up  our  heads  and  be  of  good 
courage !  Let  us  go  forward  joyfully,  hoping 
unto  the  end,  the  end  that  is  to  be  to  us  the 
beginning  of  a  life  all  purity  and  joy  and 
love ! 


